Celtic Manor Resort: Chocolate Afternoon Tea

Hey All

A few weeks ago we decided to visit Celtic Manor for Afternoon tea to celebrate L's birthday. L had been previously and I'd been looking for a reason to try it out. We both love The Celtic Manor spa and are always looking for reasons to visit. 

On at the moment (until the 19th June) is the Chocolate Afternoon Tea. You can see the afternoon tea options here. I was excited to try this as I've only been for traditional and gin afternoon teas before.

Above you can see the menu selection. This is placed on each place setting so you can easily identify what you are eating as it comes out and it also states the allergy information of each item on it. Firstly we were asked what tea we would like and both went for English Breakfast. It was a tough choice as we are both big tea drinkers but wanted to start traditional.

Then our tower of treats were delivered (scone come out later!). It really was visually impressive and for ease the plates lift out so you can move them towards you to save from constantly leaning over. At first I was concerned by the large amount of cakes so got stuck straight in. The first one I tried was the triple chocolate cube which wasn't at all what I expected but really delicious, I wasn't expecting the soft jelly like texture but it was a nice surprise. My favourite was definitely the chocolate raspberry and almond tart. The raspberry made it so fresh and gave it a lift!

I like to wash cake down with sandwiches so that I don't end up feeling too sick. The cheese and plum chutney was especially delicious. If we're honest though we were both disappointed with the size of the sandwiches. They were tiny!! Much smaller than normal afternoon tea and with such a sweet afternoon tea a little more sandwich would be nice. The fillings were lovely though. 

The little chocolate coffee cups were a great touch! I love the attention to detail that really goes into making each dessert look amazing!

Once you're done with the stack above a warm chocolate chip scone gets delivered to the table!! These were so tasty!! I love the edition of chocolate in a scone and the rum and raisin stop it being overly sweet!

The chocolate afternoon tea is definitely worth a visit and makes a tasty change! It's costs £19 Monday to Friday, and £27 on the weekends.

Are you a fan of afternoon tea? Have you tried afternoon tea at Celtic Manor?

Love L and M

xxx

Miss Patisserie Citrine Roll On Eau de Toilette

Morning lovelies!

If you are a long time reader of this blog then you will know that I have a huge love for citrus scents - it's in my perfume, my shower products and candles and diffusers in my house. I can't get enough of it!
As soon as I saw the Citrine roll on in Miss Patisserie I knew it had to be mine.

The description for this scent from Miss Patisserie is:

A stroll in the garden on an exotic island is the inspiration behind this scent. Green mango, lotus, incense, calamus and sycamore wood are at the heart of this refreshing eau de toilette

I'd say this was pretty accurate, it's so beautiful and refreshing and takes me to a different place for a few seconds - which is sometimes exactly what I need!

The top notes are green mango and lemon, middle notes of lavender and lotus, and base notes of incense and sycamore wood - for those who need to know all of the details!

This has been perfect for me to put in my handbag for carrying around day to day, and also for taking on work trips where I can put it in my hand luggage and don't have to worry about exceeding the liquid limits.
I picked up the 10ml perfume which costs £6.99, there are also 30ml and 50ml versions too (£8.99 and £11.99)

I love this scent and how easy it is to roll on whenever I need a boost - this isn't just perfume for me to smell nice it's also a scent that gives me a mental boost. It smells like a holiday and takes me away to a paradise island for a few seconds, and everyone needs that right?!

I'd definitely recommend this scent, and I've heard that there is also a scent based on sea salt which I'd love to try as some floral scents can be overwhelming for me and my sensitive nose!

Have you tried one of the scents from Miss Patisserie? Which is your favourite?

L xxx

English Tea Shop: Detox Me

Happy Sunday morning!

I don't know about you but we love tea, all types and flavours and we love trying new ones even more.

I've always been a big fan of TK Maxx and Home Sense but recently I've found myself going there more often and particularly to the food and book section. You can never go wrong with buying books and tea right? It's like they are made for each other!

I've seen the English Tea Shop brand quite a lot and so decided to give some of their blended teas a try. Today's post is about their Organic Detox Me tea, but rest assured I also have 2 other flavours to tell you all about - I just can't help myself and keep going back!

The Detox Me tea contains Peppermint, Spearmint, Elderflowers, Fenugreek and Rosemary, and the box contains 16 pyramid style tea bags.

I've been loving trying loose leaf teas recently but sometimes it's great to be able to ust grab the tea bag and let it infuse without messing around with measuring it out.

This tea you simply need to add to boiling water water and infuse for 2/3 minutes, and then maybe add some sugar if you think it is necessary. I didn't need to add any sugar at all and I really liked the refreshing taste.



Sometimes the detox type teas can smell and taste a bit vile, or contain a large amount of licorice and green tea, or even give you some undignified side effects (we've all tried those teas by now I'm sure!).

I didn't find I had any of those with this tea and found it quite refreshing due to the mint. You can see the colour of the tea in the image below, served in one of my favourite Alice in Wonderland mugs from Whittards. I have the full set of these mugs thanks to some lush relatives, definitely have the tea pot on my list for Christmas though as it is also gorgeous (it's not too early for the C word right?!)

I have quite a few teas in my collection now as you can see by my shrine in the image above- maybe you think I'm obsessive but I just love trying out different types!

This particular tea cost me around £2.50 from Home Sense, but is available from Amazon for £5.82 at the time of posting. They aren't cheap but really worth it for the quality of the taste and the blends. They have quite a few I would love to try and the Peppermint Loose Leaf tea is a firm favourite of mine anyway - it lives on my wishlist for future repurchasing!

Have you tried anything from the English Tea Shop? Do you have any flavour recommendations?

Are you a loose leaf or a bag fan?? I think each have their time and place!

L xxx

Things to do in Hay-on-Wye

Hey All

A few weeks ago I wrote about C and I's stay at Cosy under Canvas, this week I thought I'd share what we got up to in Hay-On-Wye and what there is to do and explore in the surrounding area if you take a trip and fancy some adventures.

Explore Hay-On-Wye

Hay-on-Wye is a little market town which is great for a explore around. It's got lots of shop to pop in to especially book shops. We enjoyed browsing around the shop and popping in to cafes for a cup of tea here! I don't have photos of Hay-On-Wye as it absolutely tipped it down as we were here!

Canoeing 

I was sceptical about going canoeing as I'd gone once when I was in school and was awful but this was really good! We opted for the short route which I think is a five mile trip. You canoe down, call the company and they come and pick you up. It was great to be out on the river and nice to relax. It's a really easy canoe ride too so great if you're a beginner! We went with Wye Valley Canoes and couldn't fault them. As it was October when we went we didn't need to book but if there are large groups or it's peak seasons I'd recommend booking. At Wye Valley Canoes there is also an amazing accommodation including a slide to get down stairs! C and I loved it and would love to go back with a big group of friends or on stag/hen dos!

Cafes

Next to Wye Valley Canoes is the River Cafe. We visited this cafe three times and we were only there 5 days! We loved it, amazing cakes, great coffee and really nice surroundings. We only samples a variety of cakes and didn't try the food but that looked great too!

Clay pigeon shooting and archery

Lastly we decided to go and do something we wouldn't normally do. After a quick google and emailing various companies Black Mountain Adventures got back to me. We weren't sure what we wanted to do and they offered loads of different activites we could do and in the end we decided on Clay pigeon shooting and archery. Both of which are half day activities so we combined them to have a full day. Black mountain offer lots from high ropes courses, bike riding and canoeing. 

We loved doing this day as it wasn't something we'd have booked to do if we weren't away for a break. These would be great for team bonding or trips with friends too!

Walking

One thing we didn't get to do when we were there was walks or hikes. Hay-On-Wye is a great base for some great hikes and walks but at the time I was still recovering from a badly sprain ankle so we thought we'd give it a miss. It's perfectly situated to take the Offa's Dyke path and this is something we want to go back to do.

So that was our whirlwind little trip. We spent all of our evenings in our dome and cooked all of our meals. We had planned to eat out but decided we preferred to relax on the site as it meant we could both enjoy a drink and then go in our hot tub!

Have you been to the Hay-On-Wye area? Do you enjoy a few adventure activities?

Love M

xxx